Writers through history
The atlas holds 180 people and 5,946 moments here, from 620 BC to 2025. The most recorded lives are Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Theodore Roosevelt. Across the Cold War and the Interwar Period.
Notable people
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
from 1770 to 1831
32 moments here
German philosopher and a central figure of German idealism. His documented movements include formative study in Stuttgart and Tübingen; tutoring…
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
from 1840 to 1893
46 moments here
Russian Romantic composer whose career ranged from civil-service work and conservatory teaching in Saint Petersburg and Moscow to international…
Theodore Roosevelt
from 1858 to 1919
33 moments here
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1858–1919) was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909.…
Dwight D. Eisenhower
from 1890 to 1969
48 moments here
Dwight D. Eisenhower was a United States Army officer, Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during World War II, and the 34th president of the United…
Jawaharlal Nehru
from 1889 to 1964
54 moments here
Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist and statesman who became independent India’s first prime minister, serving from 15 August 1947 until his…
Leonhard Euler
from 1707 to 1783
18 moments here
Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, engineer, and polymath. Euler’s documented life moved from Basel and nearby Riehen to Saint Petersburg,…
Jules Verne
from 1828 to 1905
30 moments here
French novelist, playwright, and poet whose documented life included residences and work in Nantes, Paris, Amiens, Auteuil, and Le Crotoy, together…
Rudyard Kipling
from 1865 to 1936
27 moments here
English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. Born in Bombay, Kipling spent his childhood in India and England, worked as a journalist…
Francis Bacon
from 1561 to 1626
13 moments here
English philosopher, lawyer, statesman, Attorney General, and Lord Chancellor under James I.…
John Adams
from 1735 to 1826
34 moments here
American lawyer, revolutionary leader, diplomat, first vice president of the United States, and second U.S. president.…
Johannes Kepler
from 1571 to 1630
16 moments here
German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher, and music theorist. Kepler’s documented life moved from Württemberg schooling…
Friedrich Schiller
from 1759 to 1805
30 moments here
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, philosopher, historian, and a central figure of Weimar Classicism.…
Charles Baudelaire
from 1821 to 1867
20 moments here
French poet, essayist, translator, and art critic, best known for Les Fleurs du mal. Baudelaire lived chiefly in Paris, spent formative school years…
Michael Faraday
from 1791 to 1867
21 moments here
English chemist and physicist whose experimental work transformed the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.…
Giuseppe Verdi
from 1813 to 1901
31 moments here
Italian composer whose career transformed nineteenth-century opera. Born near Busseto, Verdi studied and worked in Busseto and Milan, then traveled…
Freddie Mercury
from 1946 to 1991
44 moments here
Freddie Mercury (Farrokh Bulsara) was a British singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of Queen.…
Geoffrey Chaucer
from 1359 to 1400
16 moments here
English poet, courtier, diplomat, and civil servant, best known for The Canterbury Tales. His documented career included military service in France,…
James Madison
from 1751 to 1836
29 moments here
James Madison (1751–1836) was a Virginia planter, revolutionary politician, delegate to the Continental and Confederation congresses, architect of…
Marcus Aurelius
from 121 to 180
18 moments here
Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and Stoic philosopher. This chronology records securely attested physical presence from his birth and Roman residences…
Arthur Schopenhauer
from 1788 to 1860
38 moments here
German philosopher and writer, born in Danzig and dead in Frankfurt am Main. His documented movements included childhood residences in Hamburg and Le…
Honoré de Balzac
from 1799 to 1850
47 moments here
French novelist and playwright, born in Tours and dead in Paris. Balzac created La Comédie humaine, an interlinked fictional panorama of…
Alexandre Dumas
from 1802 to 1870
26 moments here
French novelist, playwright, journalist, and travel writer, also known as Alexandre Dumas père.…
Indira Gandhi
from 1917 to 1984
40 moments here
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi was an Indian stateswoman who served as prime minister from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until her assassination in 1984.…
Hernán Cortés
from 1485 to 1547
30 moments here
Spanish conquistador, commander, explorer, governor, and writer whose 1519–1521 campaign against the Aztec Empire helped establish Spanish rule in…